Franck Dubosc, black suits him very well
Currently the algorithms still define him as a “French comedian and film actor”. Absolutely true, but an increasingly reductive title. However, this reduction is not worsening. Author and performer of successful shows, leading actor of famous multimillion-dollar comedies, Franck Dubosc he has built a great career on stage and in front of the camera. What if it was “just” his infinitely blue eyes, or this humor that is at the same time naive, impertinent and brazenly melancholic, or maybe these underwear from the trilogy Campingthat would already be a lot.
An essential figure of comedy, a familiar embodiment of a middle France that is more kind than sour – sometimes at the cost of caricaturing the braggart tendency of the “beauf”, Franck Dubosc, at 61, could have continued this same straight line. He would not be the only one: many actors of his generation do not branch out or no longer branch out, choosing at this crucial age for male performers to make the most of a well-established capital in the audiovisual panorama and in the public’s wallet.
But that would mean forgetting that Franck Dubosc is profoundly an author and a lover of cinema. From the big screen, where he debuted in 1985 To us guys then in 1986 a Police justice. He moved away from it to write television hits, embodying iconic characters of 90s humor with Elie Semoun in VHS format. A success that reopened the doors of cinema to him in 1998, before becoming very popular with his show Didn’t I tell you?finds an important role in Camping in 2006, a major box office success of which he co-authored. The ten years that followed made him a pillar of French comedy.
After the sand and the sun…
An actor and co-author for others, it is therefore surprising that Franck Dubosc did not dedicate himself to directing sooner. Everyone stand uphis first attempt in 2018, is a commercial success that surprises for the delicacy with which it addresses the theme of love and disability. In 2022, due to a failure in theaters but a critical press that remains pleasantly curious, it is with a seductive bitterness that it leans towards a more dramatic comedy than it seems, Rumba life.
Delicate, then melancholic, Franck Dubosc then accentuates the turning point and accelerates there, tearing with his third realization the image that he himself formulated, playing his role in the series Ten percent in 2020: “And what am I (for his young playing partner, ed)? Well, I’m a big nerd who makes dick-shaped underwear.” Today, with A bear in the JuraFranck Dubosc thus presents himself at the end of the shift, at the helm of a delightfully dark and surprising comedy, where he confirms a transformation that is not only successful but also spectacular.
…snow and darkness
Michel and Cathy, a couple worn down by time and financial difficulties, no longer really speak to each other. Until the day Michel, to avoid a bear on the road, hits a car and kills the two occupants. 2 deaths and 2 million used banknotes in the safe, obviously makes you want to talk about it again. And above all, keep quiet.
Published on January 1, 2025, at the time you read these lines A bear in the Jura has already exceeded 100,000 entries, driven by effective word of mouth and a mostly highly appreciated review. The credit goes to an ideal casting, where Laura Calamy AND Benoît Poelvoorde splendor, accompanied by impeccably played supporting roles Josephine of Meaux, Kim Higelin AND Emmanuelle Devos. Also a compelling plot, written with the care of cinematographic generosity, where Franck Dubosc allows himself a false leading role, in the background in the portrait of a shy and hesitant husband and father, an actor in spite of himself but above all witness to a spiral as frightening as it is exhilarating . And above all, the desire to please its author.
Encounter
Your previous film, Rumba lifehe had surprised you with unexpected glimpses of darkness and his sideways step compared to the line you had held until then. With A bear in the Jurathere is an even more frank break in tone. What was your wish with this film?
Franck Dubosc : I had written a third film. Finally, another third film. And I purred a little. It was a good story and I was happy. But when I finished the script I said to myself: “So what? What more can I say than what I’ve already been able to say?” A romantic comedy, beautiful scenes… In fact I wasn’t happy so I tried to shake myself. Then I thought about finding a co-writer and I met Sarah Kaminsky, for another film that she was going to write, and then I said to myself that I wanted something else. That I wanted cinema. I wanted to make a cinematic film, with deaths, love, comedy always…
But I didn’t think, “I want to do a black comedy.” If I had thought that before, I think I would have messed up, because I actually don’t know codes like that very well. It’s my way, then we could say that it looks like this or that or that it’s crap, but in any case it will be my style.
How exactly did you arrive at this plot?
Franck Dubosc : I told Sarah about my wishes. I saw money in a car, an accident, drug dealers, I had a joke to tell but nothing more. He said to me: “Come on, I’ll come with you”. My desire was not to surprise, nor to really change my style, but it was not to purr. To make cinema and to please myself. Thinking about what I wanted to see as a viewer. I didn’t particularly have the concept of black comedy in mind, or the reference to the Coen brothers. All this came later.
The reference to the Coen brothers comes up very often in the comments on the film. If it came after your first ideas, wasn’t it still unknown to you?
Franck Dubosc : Of course I knew, and I told Sarah about it. This kind of universe. But for example I only discovered thatA simple plan later, when a friend recommended it to me after reading the screenplay ofA bear in the Jura. I like these universes, I like American films, but above all I didn’t want to make a film “of that kind”, it’s not the Fargo “French style”.
I hate it when I see a movie advertised as American but “French-style.” It basically means “worst”. No, I wanted a real French film, like the detective films I watched as a child, with stories that don’t happen to me. And then if we mention “Fargo” it is above all because there is snow, simple people and the police.
You are entrusted with the main roles ofA bear in the Jura to Laure Calamy and Benoît Poelvoorde, with whom this is the first collaboration. Did you write the characters of Cathy and Roland for them?
Franck Dubosc : I wrote without thinking about the actors because, sometimes it can work, but it also reduces the characters. We think of someone who would be very good in this situation, but less good in another… So it was only once we finished the script that we thought, very quickly, of Laure Calamy and Benoît Poelvoorde. I wanted to cast people who didn’t necessarily do comedy. Or, at least, who are not part of my acting family. Except one, Christophe Canard, who plays the priest.
I also called him and said, “I don’t want you to be in my film, because I want to change actors. But to prove to me that you won’t be in my film, you will do some tests.” He played, he rehearsed and, but I suspected it, I gave him the role. I told him, “get tested so I can be sure it’s not you.” And hey, it was him.
Is it the exception that proves the rule, the one where you radically change your benchmarks?
Franck Dubosc : I wanted to change the world of cinema, but also people. I haven’t changed many of my technicians, but I have changed my editor, for example, by necessity. I worked with an editor who made action films (Audrey Simonaud, recently and in particular in the editorial team of Voleuses, ed), and it suited me very well because I had a lot of cinema people around me.
Even the subsequent channels, this time are not TF1, but France Télévisions. Netflix also put something up and their first question was: “who does the stunts?”. Suddenly I had an environment that meant that no matter what happened, the film would be different.
What also makes the difference is this “playful” immorality, precisely in the style of the Coen brothers, of almost all the characters in the film.
Franck Dubosc : Going towards immorality, I like that. I’m an honest person, I’m not immoral, so seeing people at the cinema doing things that I wouldn’t do… I don’t have the idea or the courage to do what they do, I’m very happy with being a spectator. And I wish they were even more so, in immorality! But because I still want people to like my characters, I stop them where they need to be. I like everyone to be a little, not rotten, but… we all have that little thing.
In this regard, is your character, who is not the most strong-willed one in the plot, like you?
Franck Dubosc : It is deleted for several reasons. It looks like me, because I would definitely be the one who is tempted to say “oh no, you shouldn’t do that”, the one who is stupid enough to spend money where it shouldn’t. But I chose this cancellation because I’m directing the film. It’s better to let others play, it’s easier for production. As I was writing, I knew I wanted it not to be too complicated for me.
With this new film does another chapter open or perhaps a new desire emerges?
Franck Dubosc : What I know today is that if I make the film I wrote before A bear in the JuraI won’t do it the same way. It gives me a little more confidence in myself. A bear in the Jura it will work or it won’t work, we can’t decide. But it is certain that I made the film I wanted to make, with the difficulties that this entailed, and now I know that when I write this or that scene, I know that I can go beyond what I thought at the beginning. Even though it’s a very simple film, two characters in a room… I know I can trust myself a little more, I think I’ve earned it.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
